N. Murray takes third at Madness

Published 12:56 am Thursday, December 22, 2011

CHATSWORTH — All high school basketball coaches want for Christmas is for their teams to continue to get better with the new year — and the return to league play — right around the corner.

That was certainly the case for Dalton’s Jeff McKinney and North Murray’s Keith Robinette after seeing their teams win in the final day of the Mistletoe Madness girls tournament at Mountaineer Arena.

On Wednesday, both teams won for the second time at the three-day event, with the Lady Mountaineers claiming third place with a 43-39 win over Berkmar and Dalton taking a 56-31 victory over Gilmer in the fifth-place game.

“We have a lot of new names that have gotten to play in the early part of the year,” said McKinney, who has just two starters back from last year’s Class 3A state runner-up team. “The biggest difference in the varsity and the non-varsity game, whether it be middle school or junior varsity, is the game is a lot quicker. Until you learn the speed of the game, it is an adjustment, but we are starting to make that adjustment.”

In other tournament action on Wednesday, Hiram beat Elbert County 40-33 to take the inaugural championship, while Southeast Whitfield lost to LaFayette 49-46 in the fight for seventh place.

After losing in the first round of the tournament to Elbert County, the Lady Catamounts rolled over LaFayette and Gilmer in convincing fashion. Dalton, which lost just one game last season, goes into the break with a 7-4 record.

Lady Cats senior Chandler McKinney, named to the Mistletoe Madness All-Tournament team, has been a scoring force for Dalton, along with Maddie Howell. But finding consistent help for those two is the challenge.

While Annie Kate Snyder has been solid as a scorer and a rebounder, with the Sub-region 7A-3A schedule ahead, more and more teams will concentrate on stopping McKinney and Howell.

“We’ve got eight or nine players who are capable of scoring like Chandler and Maddie do,” coach McKinney said. “We feel good about the effort and what they have put in. They are adjusting and getting better, and that is all you can ask for as a coach.”

While other teams may prioritize stopping Chandler McKinney, Gilmer certainly couldn’t.

After finishing the first quarter tied at nine, McKinney dominated the second quarter and the Lady Bobcats never recovered. With Dalton up 13-9, McKinney scored the next 11 points as the Lady Cats held Gilmer (8-4) scoreless over nearly six minutes of play in the second quarter for a 26-14 lead at halftime.

Dalton rolled from there, with McKinney finishing with 19 points and Howell adding 17.

• North Murray girls 43, Berkmar 39: Much like Dalton, the Lady Mountaineers have a plethora of players. Finding the right combinations and the right mix of talent is the challenge for Robinette.

So far, he and his team have done a lot of things right in starting the year with a 7-5 record — already three wins more than they had all of last season.

“Kids are getting into their roles, and some of the younger players who have come in have provided a spark and pushed some of our other players,” Robinette said. “But the key is to click night in and night out. Coming back from the break, we will have to shore things up defensively. But tonight we gutted one out, and that is a good thing.”

North Murray took the win at the free throw line, scoring nine of its 11 fourth-quarter points there. Erin Robinson’s basket in the post accounted for the Lady Mountaineers’ only points from the field in the fourth. While North Murray was just 9-for-20 on free throws for the game, securing the victory at the line was notable after Robinette bemoaned his team’s 8-for-20 performance on free throws in Tuesday’s loss to Elbert County.

Hannah Hensley, who made the all-tournament team, and Abigail Bradley each had nine points to lead the Lady Mountaineers, while Meagan Spivey finished with eight.

“We haven’t peaked and that is good, but we aren’t where we need to be,” Robinette said. “When they decide that they can play, they can do some great things, but if any little doubt creeps in and we struggle.”

Nina Williams led Berkmar (2-8) with 15 points.

• LaFayette girls 49, Southeast Whitfield 46: The Lady Raiders had their best chance yet to notch their first victory of the season, but LaFayette shut down their offense over the final 3:42 to stop Southeast’s comeback.

Southeast led 18-2 at the end of the first quarter, but the game was tied at 37 heading into the fourth quarter. Still, the Lady Raiders had a 46-40 lead when Judelle Herrera hit a running jumper from the right side of the lane.

However, those were the last points Southeast mustered as LaFayette scored the final nine. Shelby Narmore hit a 3-pointer to tie it, and her free throw with 1:31 giving LaFayette (3-6) the lead for good.

The Lady Raiders (0-13) were led by Megan Collins, who finished with a game-high 28 points and was named to the all-tournament team.